The City’s storm water system includes 168 catch basins that collect rain water and contribute to reducing flood conditions on streets and roads. Some catch basins convey water to surrounding ponds, canals, lakes, and other water bodies while others are connected to ex-filtration trenches (or French drains as they are commonly known).

Additionally, there are catch basins that do not have outlet piping, meaning that they simply act as retention structures. Once a basin structure has filled with rain water, it cannot hold additional water until that water begins to percolate into the ground through a hole in the bottom called a “sump”. The amount of time it takes the water in a basin to percolate primarily depends on how saturated the surrounding soil is.

Help Us Protect Sebring’s Water Quality

It is illegal to dump anything down our storm drains. This is a statewide regulation as only rain is allowed in Florida's storm water systems. To report suspected illegal dumping, please call the Public Works Department at 471-5115.

Residents are also encouraged to protect the water quality in our lakes, streams, canals, and other water bodies by taking the following steps:

Reduce fertilizer, herbicide, and pesticide use. This helps prevent fish kills, loss of native species, and other water quality problems

Bag all lawn clippings, leaves, and other organic debris that can clog storm drains or overburden our water bodies

Pick up pet waste and do not feed shore birds bread or other human foods, especially near the beach or other large water bodies

Dog waste adds harmful bacteria to our storm water system and feeding human foods to birds is not only harmful to their health, but also causes unnatural flocking behavior that leads to local increases in bird droppings and bacteria input.

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Water Quality Information Here are some important brochures related to water quality and what you can do to help.

Flooding

Several factors contribute to flooding. The three main factors are rainfall quantity, rainfall duration, and soil condition.

Large quantities and extended durations of rainfall can inundate storm water drainage systems. Once a system is full, the water has nowhere to go- leading to potential flooding. That is where soil condition becomes a factor. Generally, soil acts like a sponge and absorbs a good portion of rainwater. But when the ground has been saturated by excessive rainfall quantities over long periods of time, it cannot absorb water as quickly.

Another significant factor in flooding is the creation of impervious areas, which are areas where water cannot penetrate the surface and be absorbed into the ground. An example of this would be a street or parking lot. As land is developed, the amount of impervious areas are increased, causing storm water runoff to be several times more than what would normally occur on an undeveloped section of land.